It's the end of January and tonight sees the first Spiral Scratch popshow of 2008.

I am not sure I get The Deirdres who are the most ramshackle of bands I have seen in a long while. I like the fun approach in the way that they make music. All seven of them wear capes, constantly swap instruments, take turns in singing and partake in witty banter with the audience and each other. Whilst they certainly made me smile I would have liked to have heard some songs which were reduced to second billing thanks to the antics on stage. It was a struggle to hear anything close to a complete tune and if the band focused on them a bit more I am sure we would have heard some crackers. Of course that's not the romantic option and they have plenty of fans in the indie pop community who like their silly ways. However if The Deirdres carry on being the fun student band they currently are then they are always going to be playing on the bottom of the bill and being the warm up act for others. Which is great if that's where they want to be.

About a year ago I described Pocketbooks as a shambling mess which saw this site receive it's only hate mail! Since then the band have got better and better. Tonight was the first time I have seen them with the new drummer (Jonny) and guitarist (Ian from the Cut Outs). Ian's guitar playing adds a new dimension to the bands sound which now sounds absolute. The boy/girl vocals works oh so well and both Emma and Andy's vocals are stronger than ever especially on the recent single Cross The Line. Even the fact that for the the first time in the Pocketbooks history a guitar string broke(!) it didn't put them off and they still finished strongly. Highlight for me was I'm Not Going Out which I hope turns up on the forthcoming new single. In that article from a year ago I wrote that the band could be London's premier indie pop band if they sorted themselves out. For now I think they are just that.

Sparky's Magic Piano début album towards the end of 2007 Feel The Beat and Do It Anyway was a great way to end the year and tonight sees them headlining for the first time. The band consist of Oli (guitar) and Marion (vocals) with the back line being supplied by a laptop and sequencer. The band have been compared to the likes of Saint Etienne, Stereolab, Supermarket and Golden to name but a few and their synth driven pop tonight was a delight. The Enterprise suited their sound tonight as they sounded very intimate in such close surroundings. None more so than on the excellent Kaleidoscope which we considered to be My Bloody Valentine without the feedback! The one drawback was they did play slightly a bit too long but as it was their first headline show so who can blame them for being over eager.

A good start to the year!

The Deirdres - Hopeless Is The Venue
Pocketbooks - I'm Not Going Out
Sparky's Magic Piano - You Like Her

The next Spiral Scratch gig is on 23rd February 2008 with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Parallelograms, Pocketbooks and Pete Green - tickets here. Before then they have their monthly club night at The Royal George, Charing Cross Road on Saturday 9th February 2008 where they will be giving away a free cloudberry Records CD to the first 50 people through the door.